Engage: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web

Introduction: Welcome to the Revolution

By the time you read this book, you may have already heard or will soon hear whispers, rumblings, and rantings that social media is playing out.

Tune them out.

The truth is that social media may very well cease to exist as a category one day. However, while the term and category has and always will invite debate, social media's practices and benefits are indisputable, sustainable, and enduring. And, they will always serve as an important and revered chapter in the evolution of new media.

This is not open to debate.

Influential conversations are sparked and steered by influential people right now and they exist and flourish outside of your organization. The practice of listening to and learning from these conversations in and around the social networks where they transpire is invaluable and indispensable.

Social Media. New Media. Interactive Media. Integrated Marketing. Experiential Marketing. Public Relations. Branding. Whatever we call it, it's simply a matter of digital Darwinism that affects any and all forms of marketing and service. In the world of democratized influence, businesses must endure a perpetual "survival of the fittest."

Engage or die.

In June 2007, I wrote and published The Social Media Manifesto. What started as a blog post intended to help marketers grasp and embrace the emerging and rapidly shifting landscape of social media, quickly ascended into the proclamation and rallying cry for a new, more cognizant, and in-touch epoch ...